This invention relates to refrigerated tables for use in the preparation of food that are constructed with areas for holding ingredient storage pans or bins that are open to the air and easily accessible to food preparation personnel. The invention also relates to refrigerated tables that are equipped with work areas in close proximity to the refrigerated storage pans to provide the food preparation personnel spaces to prepare the food. These tables are generally used in restaurants, cafeterias, or by food service providers for the preparation of sandwiches, salads, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel refrigeration configuration for refrigerating storage pans in such tables having improved cooling characteristics over prior art food preparation tables.
In the preparation of food, it is common that many of the ingredients require refrigeration to a certain temperature to comply with health regulations as well as to improve the shelf life of the ingredients and the taste of the finished product. While these lower temperatures can generally be easily achieved by storing the ingredient pans in a conventional closed refrigeration unit, access to the ingredients is hindered, thus increasing food preparation time. Prior art food preparation tables have attempted to solve this problem in many different ways. Systems utilizing storage pans that are cooled from the bottom have been used with reasonable success, except that the area near the top of the pan is generally not kept as cool as is desired and required by health regulations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,769 to Mangini et al. discloses a food preparation table having a refrigerated ingredient zone wherein a flow directing baffle is used to direct air vertically and horizontally towards the bottom and the lower sides of the condiment/ingredient pans. However, the flow of refrigerated air disclosed by the Mangini et al. patent is not directed to the tops of the condiment/ingredient pans, resulting in the temperature of the condiments/ingredients being higher than desired near the tops of the pans.
Other systems have been developed which are better at keeping the tops of the pans close to the desired temperature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,311 to Rastelli discloses a food preparation table which is equipped with vents both above and below the pans. The vents below the pans operate similarly to the vents disclosed in Mangini et al., while the vents above the pans blow refrigerated air down over the top of the pans. In this way a refrigerated zone of air is created both above and below the pans thereby keeping the ingredients/condiments at the top of the pans closer to the desired temperature than other prior art preparation tables. However, this set-up creates other problems. In particular, the refrigerated air that is blown over the tops of the pans has the effect of prematurely drying the ingredients which detrimentally effects the shelf life and taste of the food being prepared. Thus, the preparation table disclosed in the Rastelli patent does not provide optimal refrigeration performance either.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a food preparation table which resolves some of the above-identified problems associated with prior art food preparation tables. More specifically, it would be desirable to have a food preparation table which effectively cools food ingredients/condiments that are stored in open air storage pans without drying out the ingredients thereby detrimentally effecting shelf life or food taste. It is further desired to have such a table that is of simple design, is ergonomically and thermodynamically efficient, is inexpensive to manufacture, and can be used effectively in existing kitchen arrangements with existing storage pans.